Could LINks use Twitter?

I am down in Dorset working in Bournemouth and Poole this week running a series of workshops and planning sessions for LINks (Local Involvement Networks). Today I was based at AFC Bournemouth, the local football club.

LINks is about networks and mobilizing local voices. Twitter, the micro-blogging service, provides many possibilities for putting together real time virtual networks. Twitter uses SMS messaging on mobile phones to coordinate information sharing and action. 

Could LINks use Twitter - I think they could. It may be that members will need training and support to do this but I think the possibilities are very exciting.

Is the Google Foundation asking the right questions?

Google has recently made the committment to spend $2 billion on good causes through it's Foundation. Given the success of Google it is good to see them using some of their huge resources on social and economic development for poor people. 

Larry Brilliant, the new head of the Google Foundation, gave a very interesting interview about his aspirations for the Foundation and how they plan to spend the money. A strong focus will be on sub-saharan Africa which I welcome.

Being an innovative and successful technology company, it is little surprise that Google hope to deploy their expertise to try to solve some of the world's intractable problems - poverty, disease and environmental issues. They want to use their software tools and data analysis to predict and change the way development problems emerge. An example would be using software to understand and predict disease epidemics. Presumably once Google has the ability to predict these things it will be easier to intervene and prevent.

But is the Google Foundation asking the right questions? Does the world work in this way and can deeper analysis of data reveal new ways of making change happen?

Certainly it is appealing. But does it risk being too simplistic? The history of failed development approaches over the last 60 years has been littered with technocratic approaches to problems that just have not worked. Silver bullets offer the promise of a quick fix but they rarely work in the real world.

Robert Chamber's great 1997 book Putting the First Last provides an in-depth look at how technology has failed to deliver it's promises for poor people. Part of his analysis is that those who design and invest in technology are remote and removed from the poor and the real world and real lives that they lead.

There are many other factors than just technology to consider - power relations and dynamics; corruption and lack of transparency; trust; relationships; local knowledge and expertise. If technology is going to offer something then it needs to be used in a wider framework of grassroots development. 

I admire several things about the Google Foundation - their passion, their enthusiasm, their self-belief and their money! I just hope they ask the right questions (and ask the right people - those who live in the areas where they are trying to have an impact) before they spend.

The Best Public Toilet in the UK?

OK - I know this probably sounds a bit strange. But stay with me, I am going somewhere with this.

I was in Portsmouth on Friday providing some consultancy for a children's centre that delivers services for children with special needs.

When I arrive at Portsmouth Harbour railway station I needed to find a toilet. I managed to make my way across the fairly rundown station area and into the recently redeveloped Gunwharf Quay with it's iconic Spinnaker Tower.

In the shopping centre I found what I was looking for - a public toilet. However, this was not an average (which in the UK is usually fairly dire) connveniene. It was clean and warm. Rather than paper towls or fans to dry your hands it had those new Dyson hand dryers that work so fast you still think your hands are wet when they are actually bone dry.

It also had a basket of cotton towels. You were invited to use one and then place it in a wahing basket. It was really trusting people not to exploit this. Looking at the pile of clean towels it seemed to be working. Also, there were two options for handwash - both highly frangranced and expensive looking.

Having finished my 'abolutions' I was walking out of the toilets when my eye caught the paper cups and mouth wash supplied on the wall by the exit. Wow, mouth wash in a public lavatory!

Since leaving Portsmouth I have remebered this experience. It has stayed in my mind. I have told other people about it. I am writing about it now. And it simply was a public toilet - something that often does not register in our day-to-day life.

I think experiences are key. They are the things that make a difference to the service we deliver. People who use services want to feel valued, individual and respect. But many of our health and social care services do not offer memorable experiences. They may get the basics right but they are exactly that - a no frills bargain basic. If you listen to the consistent messages of service users across the spectrum of issues then a repeated complaint is the failure of services to be a good experience. Is it not then surprising people do not want to use them (getting labelled as 'hard to reach' into the bargain) and that stigma develops. Or that they resent the fact that services make them wait, wasting their time, at the doctors or the job centre or at social services office.

We need to raise the standard of the experience we offer when people use our services. We need to make them memorable so that people talk about them and recommend them to others. We need to learn from the private sector who are often far better at offering their customers an positive experience. They have a bottom-line that means their customers will take their business elsewhere if they are not satisfied. What a shame that our service users do not have so much choice to go somewhere different and better.

Some of the things that can turn an experience into something memorable are not that costly. Welcoming people, listening to them, designing your waiting areas with people in mind and supplying simple refreshments. Some of the things can be symbolic - giving the message that peoples' experience matters. For example, comfortable seats and decent light.

Surely if Portsmouth can get the experience right with their toilets then surely we can do better with our services.

When does a grassroots movement become a branding exercise?

The US Presidential primaries are getting very exciting - it is great to see them getting so much coverage on our media in the UK. I find that many people I meet, who do not usually talk about politics, have something to say on this process. That has got to be good. 

Perhaps this is a recognition of how dull UK politics seems by comparison. And perhaps it is also because whoever becomes the next US President will be in a uniquely powerful position to steer the world through the aftermath of Iraq, economic downturn and the fall out from the 'war on terror'. The fact that this may well be the first black or woman President simply adds to the anticipation 

A lot has been said and written about how Barack Obama's campaign is a grassroots movement. There are claims that it involves local people across the US (many of whom are traditionally disenfranchised from the democratic system) who are speaking with one voice for change. But how real is it? There appear to be five areas where Obama is strong and it is here that his claims to a grassroots agenda must be scrutinised. He is using new media and social networking sites very effectively - particularly Facebook. He is having significant success in fundraising for his campaign and collecting lots of modest donations that together make a big total. And he has mobilised many local people from the Democratic Party to walk the streets and do the face-to-face campaigning - hence his successes in states that have the caucus voting system. He appears to be popular with young people and with the black community - two groups that have been on the fringes on more traditional party politics. 

Obama speaks about the need for change and uses very emotive language. But it seems quite difficult to pin him down to specifics. What does he really stand for? How liberal is he? I am not sure but my intuition tells me that I don't feel comfortable with this lack of substance. I hope I am wrong .

My concern is that when the focus groups and the polling tells politicians that the key message should be one of change, then packing this as a grassroots movements can make good social marketing sense. A change agenda has been closely linked to new social movements since the 1980s. It is an easy way of showing how different you are as a politician. Given the weariness that many voters have with the current administration of George W. Bush - from all parts of the political spectrum - there is a logic to running with a change agenda.

But how long will a politician like Obama retain his grassroots instincts once in power or once a change agenda loses it's appeal. One thing is for sure, most people are instinctively conservative in the long run - they like what they know regardless of how much better an alternative might be. Change can very quickly start to feel threatening.

Any real grassroots movement needs to think in terms of devolved power and the distribution of decision making and local voices. Obama appears to me more of the demagogue - speaking with power and passion to stir the crowd.

If Obama betrays the grassroots as his campaign progress to it's ultimate end then we will all suffer. It will be very difficult for future grassroots and bottom-up movements to be credible in the political arena.

What I would like to see is real local leaders giving some evidence of why this is a grassroots movement and how it will change the lives of local people by giving them a voice and power. Currently the people speaking up for Obama's credentials seem to be big player - such as Oprah Winfrey and Ted Kennedy - and not the service user groups, the local voluntary organisations and local activists.

And why should I care, living as I do in the UK? Well, the journey Obama is demonstrating is also resonating with some new directions in UK politics. For example, David Cameron's YouTube experiment and local campaigning groups in healthcare. The US often sets the example and tone for what happens elsewhere. 

So, I will reserve judgement on Obama but I will retain a very critical perspective. Summoning grassroots credibility is a serious agenda and not, in my view, something to be done lightly or simply for the marketing potential.

My favourite site for following the US debates is Politico

View over the Tyne

The NCB Peal (Parents, Early Years and Learning) workshop on Thursday was based in the Gateshead Hilton with the most spectacular views over the river Tyne. After a long train journey I was please to get there and gaze from the balcony at the vista.

Newcastle is a very vibrant city with a great mix of old and modern buildings. You really feel that this is a city on the rise.

Looking over the river I was struck by the number of bridges, all of different styles and shapes, that connect the two sides of the city. These structures are the networks that link people and they are always busy - day and night. This seems to me to be a visual metaphor for the social and community networks we create both in the real world and in cyberspace. 

Sometimes our bridges in these networks are our relationships - other times I think that certain people can act as bridges. It is an essential role but one that is often not recognised or valued. Certain people make things happen for others - they keep the flow of information and trust moving. We need more bridges.

What is nice about the Tyne bridges is that they are lit up at night - they shimmer and shine and reflect on the slow moving water of the river. 

Mini beasts and other strange terms

Over the weekend I had a few days to relax with my family at the Grand Hotel in Swanage in Dorset. The hotel has a pool and it was nice to spend some time with my young daughter as she learns to paddle and swim. 

I often find that when I get away my mind has the space to drift and revisit conversations and activities from the working week. This time was no exception.

I have been struck by two new phrases that I had not really heard before this week. 

Apparently in children's centres they do not use the term 'creepy crawlies' anymore for the insects and bugs you might find under a stone or living in a wall. Now the trendy term is 'mini beasts'! I quite like this - it is exciting and taps into a child's love/hate relationship with monsters and big beasts. I also started to wonder what in my world might count as a mini beast - maybe certain journalists or minor bureaucrats! 

The other term which I must admit I found a bit more problematic was the 'mummy mafia'. I am told this is a term for mum's who gang together to dominate a child care setting or a school. Not sure I will be using this one.

But these experiences did get me thinking about how words and terms change. And how hard it is sometimes to keep up with the changes. Our language is constantly evolving. I notice this in myself. I am using terms now that little over 6 months ago were not in my vocabulary.

One example of this is how many organisations have stopped using the term 'hard to reach'. Until recently this was a very popular idea and many of my workshops would start with at least one participant saying 'I want to learn to work with hard-to-reach groups'. I think we have all become more aware now and recognise that people tend not to be hard-to-reach. They are living their lives as they see fit. It is often services and organisations that are hard-to-access.

One promise I made myself a while ago was to simplify my language. I believe that it is possible to express complex ideas in clear and simple words. I don't think I am that good at it yet. But I know with writing that practice makes a difference. The golfer Arnold Palmer once staid, 'the more I practice the luckier I get'. I hope that I more often I write the clearer I will become. Unless of course of vanish under a pile of words.